قَد عَذَّبَ الحُبُّ هَذا القَلبُ ما صَلُحا
فَلا تَعُدَّنَّ ذَنباً أَن يُقالَ صَحا
Love has tormented this heart for as long as it remained whole,
So do not count it a sin if it is rumored that he has recovered.
أَبقَيتَ فِيَّ لِتَقوى اللَهِ باقِيَةً
وَلَم أَكُن كَحَريصٍ لَم يَدَع مَرَحا
You left within me a remnant of God-fearing piety,
And I was not like a greedy soul who left no pleasure unpursued.
وَحاجَةٍ لَم تَكُن كَالحاجِ واحِدَةً
كَلَّفتُها العَزمَ وَالعَيرانَةَ السُرُحا
Driven by a need that was not, like common needs, merely one,
I tasked my resolve and the swift, tall camels with its weight.
يَكونُ جَهدُ المَطايا عَفوَ سيرَتِها
إِذا نَسائِجُها كانَت لَها وُشُحا
The utmost exertion of these mounts appears but an easy pace,
Even when their saddle-pads shift upon them like sashes.
نَرمي بِها كُلَّ لَيلٍ كانَ كَلكَلُهُ
مِثلَ الفَلاةِ إِذا ما فَوقَها جَنَحا
We cast them into every night whose heavy chest was
Vast as a desert when it leans its darkness over the earth,
حَتّى تَبَيَّنَ في أَثناءِ نُقبَتِهِ
وِردَ السَراةِ تَرى في لَونِهِ مِلَحا
Until there appeared, within the folds of its veil,
The watering-path of dawn, in whose hue you see streaks of gray.
وَهُنَّ يَلحَقنَ بِالمِعزاءِ مُجمِرَةً
خُشمَ الأُنوفِ نَرى في خَطوِها رَوَحا
They catch up with the stony ground, striking sparks,
Flaring their nostrils, while we see a wideness in their stride.
يَطلُبنَ بِالقَومِ حاجاتٍ تَضَمَّنَها
بَدرٌ بِكُلِّ لِسانٍ يَلبِسُ المِدَحا
They seek, carrying the people, needs that are guaranteed by
A full moon who is robed in praise by every tongue.
كَأَنَّ فَيضَ يَدَيهِ قَبلَ تَسأَلُهُ
بابُ السَماءِ إِذا ما بِالحَيا اِنفَتَحا
It is as if the overflow of his hands, before you even ask,
Is the gate of heaven when it flings open with rain.
لَقَد نَزَلنا أَبا العَبّاسِ مَنزِلَةً
ما إِن تَرى خَلفَها الأَبصارُ مُطَّرَحا
We have alighted, O Abu al-Abbas, in a station
Beyond which no eye can see any further destination.
وَكَلتَ بِالدَهرِ عَيناً غَيرَ غافِلَةٍ
مِن جودِ كَفِّكَ تَأسو كُلَّما جُرِحا
You have set a sleepless watchman over the vicissitudes of Time,
From the generosity of your palm, healing whatever it wounded.
أَنتَ الَّذي تَأخُذُ الأَيدي بِحِجزَتِهِ
إِذا الزَمانُ عَلى أَولادِهِ كَلَحا
You are the one to whose protection hands cling
When Fate grimaces fiercely at its own children.
كَما الرَبيعُ كَفى أَيّامَ نَكبَتِهِم
صَدعَ الأُمورِ وَأَدنى وُدَّ مَن نَزَحا
Just as the spring sufficed them in the days of their calamity,
Mending the rifts of affairs and drawing near the love of the estranged.
تَئطُّ دونَ الرِجالِ الأَقرَبينَ بِهِ
قُربى رَؤومٌ وَجَيبٌ طالَما نَصَحا
There cries out, regarding his closest kin,
A tender kinship and a heart that has long given true counsel.
كانَ المُوادِعُ شَأوَ الفَضلِ مُستَتِراً
حَتّى إِذا رامَ تِلكَ الخُطَّةَ اِفتَضَحا
The pretender concealed his limit of merit,
Until, attempting this high station, he was exposed.
مَن لِلجِذاعِ إِذا المَيدانُ ماطَلَها
بِشَأوِ مُطَّلَعِ الغاياتِ قَد قَرِحا
Who is there for the young contenders when the race-field outlasts them,
Against the stride of one who knows the goals and is battle-scarred?
مَن لا يُضَعضِعُ مِنهُ البُؤسُ أُنمُلَةً
وَلا يُصَعِّدُ أَطرافَ الرُبى فَرَحا
He is one whom misery cannot shake by even a fingertip's breadth,
Nor does joy send him climbing the peaks of pride.
